Smaragdine
by petals-to-fish
Summary: "Smuh-rag-din." James mumbled, staring at the word in confusion. He cross-referenced the word in his runes translator, finding the word under that of Grecian origin. It was a word for green, emerald green to be specific. Used as a noun, it meant something rare, or something not quite like the others. (Jily OneShot NSFW based "Word of the Day" tumblr post for Elnev91 and Levins18)


**Shoutout to my tumblr squad for being the bestest friends possible and reblogging the "word of the day" post that then only encouraged El and I to both write our own versions of James Potter obsessing over the word smaragdine.**

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 _Smaragdine_.

Greek/Latin, loosely interpreted as "rare emerald".

In alchemy, the Smaragdine Tablet was used by Flamel to invent the Philospher's Stone, giving the owner and his lover the ability to live forever.

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 _Green eyes._

They get under his skin more than any other eyes have been able.

White snow falls around James, placing mismatched white dots on her black cloak. She'd found him sitting in the bar alone watching the ice melt in his drink. Lily had simply brushed her fingers along his shoulders (her cheeks rosy from the weather) and James had paid his tab immediately, ignoring the rest of the russet colored drink by his fingertips.

They play their amusements gracelessly. He doesn't like to take it slow and she doesn't ever know how to jump without diving in headfirst so it's no surprise when he falls in love effortlessly under the shiver-inducing glare of her green eyes. Sometimes he feels like he's sleepwalking in the dark and can't keep up with her lighthearted dance but then her touch wakes him like lightening each time their skin touches.

In the start of their relationship he couldn't take it, not every day. He tried to keep his eyes drawn anywhere but on her face, her body, her eyes. Of course, no matter what James did, her green eyes just kept on coming back for more. He gave up trying to limit the amount of time he spent attached to her side. He followed her tracks now, giving into her touch easily wherever she led him.

The February snowfall creates a dreamy haze outside; similar to the smoky haze inside the bar James was initially drinking alone at. He has gone from drowning in firewhisky to drowning in her unbreakable grip. She has pushed her body into his; persistent in getting their conjoined forms into the shady corners of the bar exterior so that no passerby can see them keep each other company.

"I love you."

He is going down in flames, or at least it seems that way as her crimson hair creates a curtain around their faces. She never misses a chance to explore new ways to love him and she gets whatever she wants. She has mastered the puppy dog eyes that James hardly needs anyways because she is lethal with her mouth. James never says no to the girl who smiles so much it's like she lights up the whole damn world.

 _Emerald eyes._

They undress him in empty dorms without hesitation.

It's not just on their free time anymore. She drives him crazy with her eyes; so persistent for the love he is only too willing to hold onto. He's paranoid of her gaze each time she walks into any room with him. She's turned into the center of his universe, spinning his head the second her eyes lock onto his. He considers that he played his cards right at some point because the woman of his dreams can't keep her hands to herself.

He spends a lot more time staring at her eyes as time passes and suddenly neither green nor emerald seems like a good enough narrative when imagining her in his dreams. He struggles to come up with a way to define her eyes but the words are not possible. Someone once told James that eyes are windows to the soul…he believed the saying when it came to Lily's case.

When Lily laughs at his jokes, he swears he can see bits of blue floating amongst the forest green. He watches her cry and her eyes lighten to an dull olive. If she's excited, her eyes darken to a crisp evergreen that cause his pupils to dilate. Her eyes transform between shades of green no matter what she's doing and James tries to pick his favorite.

He can't.

Lily struggles to keep her eyes open in Ancient Runes. She yawns, her fingers digging into his arm wearily. Her head lolls against James' shoulder as he writes down the notes on alchemy that Professor Vector is going over. Lily didn't sleep much the night before because she'd been too busy keeping her eyes, mouth, and hips busy alongside his. He smiles against her warm touch, his quill scratching out the words Vector wished for them to translate.

"Alchemists used tablets in ancient times to start their practices."

James yawned too, he could've stayed longer in bed, if Lily hadn't have gotten up early to sneak out of the dorm before his mates woke up. His friends knew about Lily but James tried to hide the truth of how much he was actually smitten, if only because they were only seventeen. No one at seventeen could possibly understand how much James loves Lily.

"The tabula smaragdina was the key to Nicolas Flamel inventing the philosophers stone." Vector writes smaragdine table in large blocky letters on the board, "Smaragdine is, in it's translation, a color. You all may read chapter twenty four in your books and report back to me Monday on the tabula smaragdina."

James nudges Lily awake and her green eyes flutter, looking up at him tenderly like they'd done so many times before when she woke up in his arms. James is conscious of the stares of their classmates as he takes her books for her and she stretches into him like a cat. They are very public with their relationship because it's in their DNA to love so unwaveringly and assertively.

James walks Lily to Advanced Potions like he does every week.

She presses her lips against his shoulder before they can even get to the main floor. Her fingers are playing with the buttons on his robe. Her hair is pulled to one side of her face, displaying her creamy neckline. He glances down at her suspiciously to see that her jade eyes are sparkling like the gemstones she should've been wearing from head to toe.

"Don't look at me like that," he warns and she gives him a toothy smile.

"Like what?" she leans on her tiptoes and tugs at his robes, eyes open wide and pleading.

"You've got the loveliest eyes in all of Hogwarts." He whispers next, tucking her red hair behind her ear.

She reaches for his cheek with a hand, "Amanda Smith in Hufflepuff has really pretty sky blue eyes. Mine are just green."

"Not _just_ green." He debates, his glasses sliding down his nose as he glares at her, " _Gorgeous_ green."

She presses her lips against his, closing her eyes so that he can no longer stare and search for the words to help describe his love for the way the green hues bend and change with her moods. Her books in his left arm drop to the floor as his hands become otherwise engaged. She's an hour late to Advanced Potions and he never makes it to Arithmacy. After having Lily's hands acting on their worst behavior, the only thing governing James' time is an icy shower.

Later that night after Quidditch practice he works on his homework for Ancient Runes by the fireplace. The chapter they'd been assigned is mostly in Latin and James is forced to get his runes translator out from his trunk. It's while reading up on the philosopher's stone that James comes across the strange word Professor Victor had written on the board.

 _Smaragdine_.

"Smuh-rag-din." James mumbled, staring at the word in confusion.

He cross-referenced the word in his runes translator, finding the word under that of Grecian origin. It was a word for green, emerald green to be specific. Used as a noun, it meant something rare, or something not quite like the others.

James thought of the green eyes that caught him in their snare every day. He thought of how spellbinding they were and suddenly realized that he finally had a word to describe Lily's most special features. A word that is so unique, so ancient, and so Lily that he knew he'd no longer see her green eyes any other way.

"James!"

Smaragdine eyes capture his attention beside the portrait hole.

Lily has returned from Head Girl rounds. She walks over to where he's studying and fastens her lips to his greedily. They'd planned on studying runes together but the only thing James becomes interested in studying is her body. She holds every little piece of him in her heart. He knows nothing but Lily's lips, Lily's sweet refrains, and Lily's eyes as they fall into bed together.

"Smaragdine."

"Hm?" her lips vibrate sensually against his neck.

"You're eyes, they're not just green, they're smaragdine."

"Gesundheit." She giggles, nipping at his skin.

"It's Greek." He sighs as she wraps her bare legs around his waist, "It means rare emerald, like your eyes."

Her hips rock forward, "Are you trying to turn me on by using another language?"

"Is it working?" he bites back a moan when her fingers tangle in his messy hair.

"Talk Greek to me." She teases, cutely furrowing her brow when he pinches her waist impishly.

She sways herself against him, closing her eyes against the natural drive and power of their bodies. Her fingers are running through the black hair on his scalp. He inhales with a particular turn of her figure and her eyes open to meet his. The hues are fading in the darkness but he can see flakes of jade and olive, each radiating the love in her gaze.

"You've got the prettiest eyes in all of Hogwarts." he reiterated, "smaragdine eyes."

"I love you." She murmurs, "Greek and all."

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 **Too cheesy? not funny enough after we spent all night making fun of it?**

 **I like to imagine James as a big sap, really.**

 **So this came out of my James "Sappy Romantic" Potter book.**

 **Let me know what you thought here or on tumblr!**

 **xxx**

 **petals**


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